House Security

solovei72

Hi all,

I just wanted to see another perspective on a very important matter. House burgulary is very common but I never expected to experience it myself. One night, my house keys and car keys were left on the window close to the door. That morning I was awoken by a rattling noise only to find out that two men were trying to get my keys through the letter box with a stick.
The police was called approx 20 mins later and they were around the estate. I did not have the house alarm on, as I usually dont put it on. The only light source comes from the street lights.
How should I proceed now that this incident has occured? I am now regulary putting the house alarm on. I am thinking of installing CCTV and light sensors outside?
What should I do to ensure maximum house security?

Thanks a million.

Brozy

General rule of thumb is to never leave keys in plain view, especially car keys. A lot of people leave them in bowls etc in close proximity to their front doors which can be taken using stuff like coat hangers etc. They will often break in if they see car keys because they can be in and gone with keys and car in under a minute.

I'd never leave a window open when out of the house during the day or at night. Pretty sure your won't be covered by insurance if access is gained through open doors or windows.

Also its a good idea to ask neighbours to keep an eye on your house during the day when you're gone to work or on holidays. If chancers see a second story window open in a house that looks empty they can pop a ladder against the wall, throw a hi-vis on and pretend to be doing work and jump in a window. So get neighbours to question people acting in such a manner. You would do the same for your neighbours.

When on holidays, it's a good idea to get a neighbour to collect your post, so it doesn't build up on the floor, which is a dead giveaway that the householders are away for an extended period.

These are just a few that come to mind at the moment and I'm sure there are people on here with better suggestions.

riclad

even if you are there ,
its good to put the alarm on at 12 ,midnight before you got to bed.,many people leave keys in a bowl, in hallway,or kitchen .not a good
idea.
Program on the radio ,i think it was joe duffy show
man said, theres a new trend ,
burglars bump the lock,
break lock on double glazed doors lock.
most locks are standard easy to break, in 20 seconds,,
then they just open the door.
theres special locks you can get around 50 euro ,
reinforced steel ,much more secure .
THIS started in england in 2010.

http://stoptheburglar.ie/index.php/security-for-doors/cylinders/

the standard locks can be easily ,bumped, snapped ,
with a screwdriver/
MANY people have double glazed doors at the rear of the house.
or the main front door.
its easy to take out old lock, put in a more secure stronger lock,
as the locks are all a standard size, shape .

riclad

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/liveline/
click archive, 22nd november, 2013. title Crime
to hear the report ,its about 8 minutes.
he says 80 per of euro cylinder locks, can be easily bumped,opened.
ie locks ,where you lift up the handle ,to open.
they dont need to make much noise to do this .
The neighbour s probably would not hear a lock break.

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/8291

athtrasna

If you have a house alarm and don't set it at night, you may invalidate your insurance - insurance companies give discounts based on having an alarm, you are expected to use it. Make it a habit!!

While I don't leave car keys inside the door, I do leave them on the hall table, well away from the door and at a higher level than the letter box so not visible by looking through. Why do I do this? If someone wants my car, I would rather they take the keys and the car, rather than go through the house looking for them.

CCTV isn't a quick and easy fix, do you want to record it, what on? How often do you record over old footage?

Use the alarm, consider updating the front door lock, and definitely add a sensor light.

riclad

i THOUGHT most people switched on the alarm ,before going to bed at night.
AS in the above link, 80 per cent of euro type links ,are easily,snapped,
opened ,
they might put in a new lock,so when you come home ,
it looks as if you just forgot to lock the door.
ie the door just looks as if its unlocked.
to a non expert

at least put the keys ,in a place where they cannot be seen, thru a window,or thru the letterbox.

Mousewar

athtrasna wrote: »

While I don't leave car keys inside the door, I do leave them on the hall table, well away from the door and at a higher level than the letter box so not visible by looking through. Why do I do this? If someone wants my car, I would rather they take the keys and the car, rather than go through the house looking for them.

Couldn't agree more with this. I make it as easy as possible for the keys to be found if someone breaks in, without making them fishable through the letterbox.

Also, I have a lamp on a timer in the porch - great for creating the impression of someone being home.

Another thing I heard of is a sensor that plays a recording of a dog barking if someone approaches the house. Overkill maybe but I'd day it's a good deterrent.

solovei72

Hey all,

I want to thank you for your replies. I will take the suggestions into consideration. A sensor light has been added and CCTV footage at night.

Thanks again.

hfallada

A majority of thefts are opportunist. Like OP leaving his/her keys in a place easy to get at. If the OP didnt have their keys there, they wont get robbed. I live in a very safe, nice upper middle class area, but someone tried to open my mothers boot when she was in the car. Does she lose sleep at night. No, because someone was chancing their arm

Most crimes can be prevented with common sense. But most importantly have a 5 lever chubb lock on your external doors and keep your car keys in your room.

djimi

hfallada wrote: »

A majority of thefts are opportunist. Like OP leaving his/her keys in a place easy to get at. If the OP didnt have their keys there, they wont get robbed. I live in a very safe, nice upper middle class area, but someone tried to open my mothers boot when she was in the car. Does she lose sleep at night. No, because someone was chancing their arm

Most crimes can be prevented with common sense. But most importantly have a 5 lever chubb lock on your external doors and keep your car keys in your room.

Never keep your keys in your room. If someone wants your car badly enough they will come into the house for the keys. Do you want them entering your room while you sleep?

There's no point hiding keys in the house; I'd rather the keys be taken than to have someone forcefully wake me looking for them...

irritablebaz

cant beat a good dog, a well trained german shepherd or doberman pinscher can be very effective. they bark if anyone is mooching around your property and if a burgular has cased your place they may well disregard it because of the dog.

we have always had a good dog and apart from being loved by the family i always had piece of mind when on night shift. they even are handy as fire alarms.

hfallada

djimi wrote: »

Never keep your keys in your room. If someone wants your car badly enough they will come into the house for the keys. Do you want them entering your room while you sleep?

There's no point hiding keys in the house; I'd rather the keys be taken than to have someone forcefully wake me looking for them...

If they can take keys through the letter box it's theft. It's not breaking or entering. But if they go to your room it's another few years in prison. They aren't going to take that risk for an average family car.

djimi

hfallada wrote: »

If they can take keys through the letter box it's theft. It's not breaking or entering. But if they go to your room it's another few years in prison. They aren't going to take that risk for an average family car.

If they are already in your house then you dont know what risks they might take. Im not suggesting leaving the keys where they can be fished through the letterbox, but I am suggesting that if they are in the house then they may as well find the keys in a hurry rather than have them go looking for them and risk them interacting with the people upstairs asleep.

DoozerT6

djimi wrote: »

Never keep your keys in your room. If someone wants your car badly enough they will come into the house for the keys. Do you want them entering your room while you sleep?

There's no point hiding keys in the house; I'd rather the keys be taken than to have someone forcefully wake me looking for them...

I'd agree with this. Leave them on the kitchen counter, or hanging up on a hook inside the front door (but not visible from letterbox/window). If you have a nice, expensive looking, big-brand car in your driveway and you get the wrong sort of gouger who manages to break in, they may very well come into your bedroom looking for the keys or other valuables. Look what happened to that poor family in Tipperary recently

Another sad sign of the times is the recommendation I have heard from some places: always have an amount of cash in the house, even if you don't generally have any in your wallet. If someone breaks in and confronts you looking for money, giving them 50 or €100 you have stashed in fairly easy view (in a biscuit tin or the bedside locker or something) may very well get rid of them, rather than them maybe threatening you or your family if they don't believe you don't have any cash in the house.

Thomas D

DoozerT6 wrote: »

I'd agree with this. Leave them on the kitchen counter, or hanging up on a hook inside the front door (but not visible from letterbox/window). If you have a nice, expensive looking, big-brand car in your driveway and you get the wrong sort of gouger who manages to break in, they may very well come into your bedroom looking for the keys or other valuables. Look what happened to that poor family in Tipperary recently

Another sad sign of the times is the recommendation I have heard from some places: always have an amount of cash in the house, even if you don't generally have any in your wallet. If someone breaks in and confronts you looking for money, giving them 50 or €100 you have stashed in fairly easy view (in a biscuit tin or the bedside locker or something) may very well get rid of them, rather than them maybe threatening you or your family if they don't believe you don't have any cash in the house.

Aggravated burglaries are quite rare and most are related to personal disputes and not property.

Never leave your keys in open view.
Don't leave cash in your house.

This is basic crime prevention advice from the gardai. Don't make it easy for the criminals. Keep your house secure, proper mortice locks on every door. Good lighting etc.

djimi

Rare as they might be, Id rather not be the one who gets woken up by some scumbag looking for the keys of my car. If the are in the house, they can have whatever it takes to get them to leave with as little involvement from me and my family as possible. Its not worth getting a blow around the head for the sake of a lump of metal.

newbie2013

Best security is mointered internet cctv where your house is getting watched 24/7 . How much this costs, i dont know but its the best one out there IMO

Scortho

newbie2013 wrote: »

Best security is mointered internet cctv where your house is getting watched 24/7 . How much this costs, i dont know but its the best one out there IMO

A lot.
I'd only consider it if I perceived myself to be a very high risk individual which 99.9% of us aren't.

newbie2013

Scortho wrote: »

A lot.
I'd only consider it if I perceived myself to be a very high risk individual which 99.9% of us aren't.

Whats alot. Im near sure i heard its under a grand.

Scortho

newbie2013 wrote: »

Whats alot. Im near sure i heard its under a grand.

I don't have prices off the top ofmy head but under a grand was about right for a Few cameras. Much of it depends on how many cameras are on the system as well as the type of system used.
An adpro box is a couple of grand to buy where as an ic real time is a couple of hundred.

I do know of some who were paying 2-3 k to have their houses watched a year , but that was for a top of the range system.

NIMAN

I have posted on another thread about maybe purchasing either an alarm system or a CCTV system, and the common concensus is that it would be better to stop them getting into the house in the 1st place, rather than have no protection against this and simply try to record their faces. Faces are easily covered.

newbie2013

Scortho wrote: »

I don't have prices off the top ofmy head but under a grand was about right for a Few cameras. Much of it depends on how many cameras are on the system as well as the type of system used.
An adpro box is a couple of grand to buy where as an ic real time is a couple of hundred.

I do know of some who were paying 2-3 k to have their houses watched a year , but that was for a top of the range system.

Well IMO, its a grand well spent. All you need is 2 cameras, 1 for the front and the other for the back and your house will be safe.